Conservation protections belong in the next farm bill. See below for a sample message to your elected officials.

This week, a Congressional conference committee is finally starting to resolve differences between the House and Senate to complete a Farm Bill. The stakes for soil and water conservation in Iowa are very high because the House and Senate disagree about including two key provisions needed to protect Iowa's natural resources.

to ask them to support conservation compliance and a national sodsaver provision. A suggested message to send is below.

As 278 organizations nationwide including the Iowa Environmental Council told Congress in a letter this week: “Both of these provisions, included in the Senate bill, ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to incentivize risky or environmentally destructive practices."

We wrote that "without these key protections, billions of taxpayer dollars spent on crop insurance over coming years will subsidize soil erosion that will choke our waterways, increase the cost of water treatment and dredging, and reduce the long term productivity of farmland. A farm bill without these protections will also allow for the destruction of tens of thousands of acres of valuable wetlands, resulting in increased downstream flooding, loss of wildlife habitat and decreased water quality."

to ask them to support conservation compliance and a national sodsaver provision. A suggested message to send is below.

Last year, Iowa Environmental Council supporters together with sustainable agriculture advocates across the country succeeded in convincing the U.S. Senate to include these protections in its version of the Farm Bill. Now, these important protections need to be in the final bill.

SAMPLE MESSAGE TO COMMITTEE MEMBERS

To contact your elected officials, we suggest copying and pasting the sample message below into their online contact forms.

As the House and Senate begin conferencing the final 2013 farm bill, I urge you to protect wetlands, healthy soil, and clean water by supporting a national sodsaver provision and re-coupling basic soil and water conservation measures to premium subsidies for crop insurance. Both of these provisions, included in the Senate bill, ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to incentivize risky or environmentally destructive practices.

Thank you for your efforts to pass a final farm bill. I hope you will help ensure the final bill includes these important protections that will save money while protecting long-term farm productivity and Iowa's natural resources.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME.

To contact your elected officials, we suggest copying and pasting the sample message above into their online contact forms.